Faculty member Francisco Castillo is lending his language expertise to an award-winning animated film through his Spanish translation of "The Man in the Mangroves," a poem by Donna Decker, an award-winning English professor at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point and former faculty member at Florida State University. Castillo will be credited as the Spanish translator of the film’s script, helping bring the poetic story to Spanish-speaking audiences as the film reaches additional festivals.

The film earned awards for Best Animation and Best Score at the 2025 International Poetry Film Festival in Los Angeles. Its production team includes Ralph Guggenheim, producer of Toy Story and co-founder of Pixar, and composer James A. Moorer, an Oscar- and Emmy-winning audio professional whose credits include sound editing for Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

For Castillo, the project was an unexpected and rewarding opportunity. What began with a friend’s request for translation assistance grew into a contribution to an award-winning film with an accomplished creative team. His work highlights the value of faculty expertise and the meaningful ways language and translation can help creative works reach new audiences.